James 1:5-8: The Wise and the Worldly

James 1:5-8: The Wise and the Worldly

Our Scripture reading this morning comes from James 1:5-8. It says,

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

On September 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall. The massive storm pummeled the southern United States with heavy rains, sustained winds, and overwhelming flooding. Countless homes damaged. Power lines downed. Trees uprooted. Those unprepared were unprotected from the power of the storm. Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters often leave devastation in their wake. 

Experts say, trees that have survived many storms have deep and strong roots, helping them withstand future storms. Normally, Trees exposed to wind grow deeper roots. This grows the tree in height. Likewise, believers exposed to trial grow deeper faith. The visible growth of a tree above the ground tends to mirror the invisible growth below the ground. The same goes for the visible growth of a person. 

As a tree clings to the ground, a person needs to cling to the Lord. Jeremiah 17:7-8 says “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”  

A tree does not develop deep and strong roots after just one storm. Likewise, a strong faith does not magically appear overnight. A number of factors lead to the development of a mature trust and dependence on God. The storms of life often force us to change our growth pattern from breadth to depth. In other words, stress signals our spiritual roots to grow deeper. They also cause us to assess the stability and preparedness of our foundation for the next test. When God creates trees, he gives them the ability to grow strong roots. When God creates us, he also gives us the ability to grow strong roots. And what we root ourselves in determines our ability to withstand the storm. Life involves a variety of storms. They range from annoying drizzle on our windshields to catastrophic tidal waves. In Matthew 7:24-25 Jesus tells of a wise man who builds his house on the rock. “And the rains fall, and the floods come, and the winds blow and beat on that house, but it does not fall, because it is founded on the rock.” When the inevitable storms of life come, will you build upon the sand? Because the storms will come.

The world is a dark place. Confusion, chaos, lies, and manipulation describe the daily experience in a sin-cursed world. To prevent crumbling under the pressure we need the wisdom of God’s Word, which leads us to the main idea of our text today. The Wise Person Asks God for Wisdom, in Contrast to the Worldly Person Who Doubts God Will Provide.

James writes this letter to Jewish believers scattered throughout the region, in large part, due to the persecution led by Herod Agrippa around A.D. 44. These believers faced various trials as they sought to live out their newfound faith in Christ. In verses 5-8, James begins by contrasting two different approaches to the challenges of life. He begins with a wise person and then moves on to the double-minded or worldly person. Let’s begin by taking a look at what James says about the wise person…

I. The Wise Person Asks God for Wisdom Without Doubting, 5-6a

Jas 1:5  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,

These verses prompt a question. What does James mean by wisdom? Godly wisdom can be defined as the practical application of knowledge lived out in daily life to the glory of God. We often pride ourselves on the amount of knowledge we have. Whether it’s years of schooling, a list of letters that follow our names, the number of books we’ve read, our ability to win arguments, or using words in conversation that display our astounding vocabulary. We may answer any number of difficult questions with the intellectual superiority we possess in comparison to most in the world. But wisdom goes beyond mere head knowledge to the ability to apply what we know in the daily decisions of life. James begins in Verse 5 by addressing a need we all have if we are honest. 

Do you lack wisdom? I know I do. Even Solomon, knowing he lacked wisdom, asked God for it in 1 Kings 3. And God proves to be as generous to us as he was with him. James begins in verse 5 by directing us to the answer for that need. He tells us that…

A. God Gives Generously to Those Who Ask, 5

Through Christ we have the privilege of going directly to God in our need. He doesn’t withhold wisdom from us. He pours out in abundance. Like a flooded river overflowing it’s banks and nourishing parched lands. God gives to the person who asks. Knowing this truth, why do we so often wait to go to Him when He possesses omniscience and unlimited wisdom? Paul praises God for His wisdom in Rom 11:33  “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” And Solomon writes in Proverbs 2:6 “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding”. God clearly has abundant wisdom to dispense. But he does not force wisdom on an unwilling heart. He expects us to ask. So let me ask you a question. Do you ask? Or do you spin your wheels until you’re at your wits end before you ask. God is not a stingy overworked boss that does not have time for us. Like we can only bring the important things to him. All of us face difficult decisions on finances, relationships, or career paths. We struggle with what to buy, who to marry, or where to work. We may be caring for an aging family member or dealing with a major health issue. Life in a sin-cursed world proves painfully difficult. We must recognize our limited wisdom in dealing with these issues. 

I have good news for you. We have a loving Father who delights in providing for His children. Jesus said in Matthew 7:9-11 “…which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” If earthly parents give their children what they need, how much more will our heavenly father provide for our needs when we ask of Him? 

James tells us that God gives wisdom liberally, in abundance, and…“without reproach”. This idea, without reproach, means without reprimand, without insult, or without reviling. The Lord will not even rebuke us in the slightest when we ask for His wisdom. He will not remind us of our unworthiness. He will not scold us for coming to Him sooner. He calls us to ask. He promises to provide. And he reminds us we can never exceed his ability to do so. But we have to ask. And, ask big things of God. Psalm 81:10 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Of this verse, Spurgeon says, “It remained only for his people to believe in him and ask large things of him. If their expectations were enlarged to the utmost degree, they could not exceed the bounty of the Lord. Little birds in the nest open their mouths widely enough, and perhaps the parent birds fail to fill them, but it will never be so with our God.” Therefore, we can go to God in our need. But as we come to verse 6, he wants us to go to Him in the right way. We must…

B. Have Faith in His Generosity, Never Doubting His Provision, 6a

Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,

This means our request requires a genuine trust in God, a genuine trust in his good character. We must have faith in His purposes. We must have faith in his promises. Heb 11:6 “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” To live a life of faith we must obey God’s commands. And we obey them regardless of how we feel. We obey them regardless of what our flesh desires. We obey them regardless of what we think best. To disobey God’s commands demonstrates a faith in fallible, worldly wisdom over perfect, infallible, omniscient, godly wisdom. Does that not wreak of pride? 

Note that he writes in the imperative mood. He gives a command; Ask in faith…not a suggestion. To delay asking in faith shows a trust in self. This means we look to God…Not when we find ourselves at the end of our rope, or when we hit a wall. In other words, if we lack wisdom, and we do, God commands us to go to him. In doing so, we acknowledge our lack of wisdom. Simultaneously, we trust His ability to provide the wisdom we seek. This active faith moves us from the merely intellectual, to the behavioral. As people of faith, God commands us to act on the faith we profess to believe. I recently read a statement I believe summarizes this well. The statement says that “believing without obeying…is exactly what Satan does.” Think about it.  He knows the truth. He believes the truth. But he refuses to obey the truth. God calls His people to live out their faith by obeying His Word and trust in His ability to keep His word. Our faith in the Lord honors Him. Our faith demonstrates to the world He is worthy of that trust. It is through our obedience we demonstrate trust in God’s provision above our decisions. And we demonstrate trust in a loving Father’s willingness to provide for our needs in abundance.

In my mid-20’s, life was going well. I had a good job, had money in the bank, purchased my first home, and was as healthy as any guy that age could be. Decisions for me were easy. Easy as choosing what kind of cereal I wanted to eat each morning. Not the kind of thing I felt the need to seek guidance from God over. I felt very capable in my decision making. I would have told you that I trusted God. But my faith was weak. I neglected to seek His guidance in just about everything. Then things changed. Three surgeries later and I was unemployed, my bank account was empty, I was close to losing my home, and physical weakness accompanied various other challenges. Through trials, God exposed a person of weak faith who trusted in his own wisdom. Maybe you can relate? Maybe you’ve rested in your own self-confidence. Maybe you should ask God for wisdom. He promises to provide in abundance. Large concerns or small concerns. It make no difference to Him. 

Our main source of godly wisdom is His word. If our faith feels weak, if we struggle to trust God’s love, if we doubt His ability to provide, we must go to His word. Reach your spiritual roots deep into the strong foundation of the truth. His word reminds us that we come before a God that provides. It might also be helpful for us to know what to ask for. Because, sometimes it’s not that we don’t ask, we ask amiss. James 4:3  “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” 

We must remind ourselves of the great things the Lord has done and the grace He has displayed. This is why we feast daily on His Word. Blessings follow those who keep the Law of the Lord and seek Him with their whole heart. By saturating our minds with His truth, our spiritual roots grow deeper and stronger. Would you describe yourself as a person who loves God’s truth and seeks after it more than fine gold. If we desire wisdom, we must ask the Lord for it. And we must seek for it with a confident heart. But how can we expect the benefits of divine wisdom and blessings when His literal Words sit gathering dust on our shelves? I am just as guilty when I choose to scroll through social media or watch television for hours a day and not so much as give God 5 minutes of my time. I stand condemned and humbled. I need to preach this truth to my own heart more than I need to preach it to any of you, I confess. May we all recognize that our Father is willing and able to provide us with everything we need. That provision enables us to live out in daily life to the glory of God. We must trust Him. We must trust His word. In verse 5 and the first part of verse 6, the wise person asks God for wisdom without doubting. In contrast...

II. The Double-Minded Person Doubts God Will Provide, 6b-8

And that is what we will see in verse 6b - 8… 

Jas 1:6  … for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  Jas 1:7  For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; Jas 1:8  he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

A. Doubters Do Not Receive Anything from The Lord, 6b-7

In contrast to the faithful person who trusts God, the unfaithful person who does not, James compares him to a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. Have you ever stood on a beach, gazing out at the ocean, the never-ending crashing, restlessness of the waves? The waves come in…and the waves go out. Back and forth they go, but never settle. Likewise, the doubter does the same. He never rests in the faithfulness of God. He never asks Him for wisdom. But if he does, he doubts God will provide. Do you ever feel resentful about a person who doubts your word? But haven’t you done the same? Haven’t you even done this to God? How many times have you looked to God for wisdom, doubting He will provide? We request things, expecting to get an answer. But the doubter has no expectation God will answer. 

But shouldn’t He expect God to answer? Numbers 23:19 tells us, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” We can expect an answer. Next month, many of us will head to the polls to vote. And those we vote for, undoubtedly will not keep the promises they make. You might say, your average politician tends to be double-minded. Polling data, cultural influence, and money often leads to a double-mindedness, resulting in a politician driven and tossed by the winds of cultural changes. 

James goes on in verse 7 to say that this doubter must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. Which prompts the question, does this verse mean that if I doubt God at all I should not expect to receive anything from Him? Not exactly. It depends on why we doubt God. Psalm 66:18 says “ If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear”. If I cherish sin in my life? If I have certain pet sins I will not give up? I will doubt God’s provision because I love my sin more than him. Of course, you may no longer engage in the “big sins”. But do you hold tightly to small ones. Again, James 4:3  which says “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” You ask with evil motives of personal gratification and selfish desire. 

While doubters make requests of God and while God may answer, that person certainly should not supposed to receive anything from Him. Doubters do not receive anything from the Lord. Why is that the case.? Well verse 8 tells us…

B. Doubters Have a Divided Heart Between God and The World, 8

The one who doubts “is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” The literal translation of this expression “double-minded” means to have one's mind or soul divided between God and the world. In his classic allegory, “Pilgrim’s Progress”, John Bunyan calls this man Mr. Facing Both Ways. Many could easily get along with him because he never took a firm position on anything. Keeping one foot in the world and one foot in the Lord immobilized Him. What about you? Do you fear God? But do you also fear those in the world? That immobilizes us from moving in either direction. How do we expect to grow in godliness when we have our hearts set on worldly things? James 4:4 says “ You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” If we live double-minded, why should we expect God to grant our requests for wisdom? The double minded person struggles to decide on which direction to go or which choice to make. The waves of worldly voices and the winds of fleshly desires ever change. 

Perhaps much of the anxiety, frustration, and consternation we experience comes from our double-mindedness. When you go through a trial, where do you turn? When the world is on fire, with wars and rumors of war circulating, with election results looming, with hatefulness expanding, where do you turn? When daily struggles make you feel out of control, what do you do? When the pressure is on, what do you hold onto? Do you hold onto the rock of your salvation or do you thrash about in the waves? The double-minded man flounders in the waves, proving unstable in all his ways. And what does instability look like? You’ve heard it said if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything. Do you see that in the world around us. 

Perhaps the unstable doubter believes in the superiority of her intellect and decision making skills. But trusting in your own intellect over and against the wisdom of God proves about as insane as jumping into the middle of the ocean without a life preserver. If I dropped you 5 miles from shore, do you think you would make it back. Maybe 1 in 10 would. What if I dropped you off 50 miles from shore? Probably none of you would make it back. Oh sure, you can swim for a bit, but you’d get tired. Unless you had something to hold onto, you would thrash about in that sea of uncertainty, eventually succumbing to the waves. But God offers to reach down and lift you out of the abyss. 

1 Kings 18:21 says “If the LORD is God, follow him!” Joshua 24:15 says “Choose this day whom you will serve! How long will you go limping between two different opinions?” We must choose. If the Lord is God, why do you continue to follow the wisdom of the world? Why do you continue floundering in the waves of doubt? Why do you choose to remain alone in an ocean of worldliness, pulling you from one thing to the next? Peace proves eternally elusive in an ocean of never-ending waves. But God throws you a life preserver. He gives you His Son, who says in John 14:27  “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” We cannot find peace without the Prince of Peace.

My wife, Anna and I traveled to the beach on vacation last summer. I love the ocean. I spent hours in the water on the first day. A had a blast dodging the waves and soaking up the sun. Once we got settled into our room back at the hotel, I began feeling nauseous. Being the ever-perceptive wife, Anna suggested that the hours spent in the waves made me seasick. Of course, she was right on. Are women ever wrong? Eventually, my symptoms subsided. The next day, I took some Dramamine before repeating the process, dodging the waves and soaking up the sun. I needed something to alleviate my symptoms. Dramamine provided what I needed. 

In a sense, God’s wisdom does the same. When we find ourselves in the never-ending waves of indecision, always searching, but never finding what we hope to find, we need the Spiritual Dramamine of God’s wisdom to alleviate the sickness of our soul. To alleviate the imbalance of double mindedness, we must submit to Godly wisdom. In doing so, we can avoid the negative impact that follows misplaced trust in worldly wisdom. Why would we choose to keep one foot in an unstable world when placing both feet in God’s wisdom provides endless stability, true peace, and eternal security. If we choose to live like the world, if we find ourselves influenced by worldly wisdom, if we neglect to grab hold of the spiritual life preserver right in front of us, we allow ourselves to be driven and tossed by the wind. Do you find yourself nauseous from a lifetime of instability, uncertainty, and poor choices? The Lord provides calm seas, clear direction, and wise instruction. 

CONCLUSION 

The Wise Person Asks God for Wisdom, in Contrast to the Worldly Person Who Doubts God Will Provide. The wise person reaches their spiritual roots deep into the soil of Biblical truth in order to anchor themselves to the only thing that can hold them up. The peace and stability God gives in the midst of wind and waves, calls out to the double-minded person unstable in all his ways to come into harbor. Spiritually speaking, we have all been dropped in the middle of the ocean in the midst of a storm, with an anchor of sin about our waist. It grows heavier each day. The wind and waves grow larger and fiercer moment by moment. How long can you keep your head above the water on you own?

But God has good news. He has removed the anchor of sin by sending his son Jesus to die in your place. If you have yet to make the wisest choice a person could ever make, I encourage you to do it today. Place your trust in the only one worthy. None of us is assured of one more day on this earth. Call out to the Lord and receive the gift He has so graciously provided.